BUCOLIC COMEDY: THE HIGHER SENSUALISM by EDITH SITWELL

QUEEN CIRCE, the farmer's wife at the Fair,
Met three sailor-men stumping there,

Who came from the parrot-plumed sea, Yo-Ho!
And each his own trumpet began to blow.

"We come," said they, "from the Indian seas,
All bright as a parrot's feathers, and these

Break on gold sands of the perfumed isles,
Where the fruit is soft as a siren's smiles,

And the sun is as black as a Nubian.
We singed the beard of the King of Spain. . . .

Then we wandered once more on the South Sea strand
Where the icebergs seem Heavenly Mansions fanned

By the softest wind from the groves of spice,
And the angels like birds of paradise

Flit there: and we caught this queer-plumaged boy
(An angel, he calls himself) for a toy."

* * * * *

The Angel sighed: "Please, ma'am, if you'll spare
Me a trumpet, the angels will come to the Fair;

For even an angel must have his fling,
And ride on the roundabout, in the swing!"

She gave him a trumpet, but never a blare
Reached the angels from Midsummer Fair,

Though he played, "Will you hear a spanish lady?"
And "Jack the Sailor," "Sweet Nelly," "Trees shady" --

For only the gay hosannas of flowers
Sound, loud as brass bands, in those heavenly bowers.

Queen Circe said, "Young man, I will buy
Your plumaged coat for my pig to try --

Then with angels he'll go a-dancing hence
From sensuality into sense!"

The Fair's tunes like cherries and apricots
Ripened; the angels danced from their green grots;

Their hair was curled like the fruit on the trees . . .
Rigaudon, sarabande, danced they these.

And the pig points his toe and he curves his wings,
The music starts, and away he flings --

Dancing with angels all in a round,
Hornpipe and rigaudon on the Fair's ground.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...